Clean or sterile articles particularly useful for medical applications are packaged to preserve their sterility. The packaging for these articles is intended to provide a barrier to prevent microorganisms from entering inside the packaging to contaminate its contents. In most instances, the packaging is opened immediately prior to using the sterile article, such as with a blister pack housing a syringe assembly, so as to minimize the time period in which the sterile article is exposed to unsterile conditions.
When the packaging used to protect sterile articles such as syringe assemblies is opened and the syringe assembly is removed, the packaging then needs to be discarded, leading to an increase in the amount of waste material produced in a hospital or other medical setting. Additionally, when packaging is used to contain each individual syringe assembly or a number of syringe assemblies, the cost of providing the packaging contributes significantly to the cost of each syringe assembly product. It is desired that a syringe assembly be manufactured at as low a cost as possible, thus reducing the price at which the syringe assembly can be sold.
In addition to the costs associated with external packaging, packaging used to protect sterile articles tends to be bulky and, consequently, consumes more storage space per unit than is desirable. Thus, the use of packaging to contain the syringe assembly adds additional and unnecessary bulk to each individual syringe assembly. This additional bulk significantly detracts from valuable storage space in a hospital or other medical storage area.
It would be advantageous to provide a syringe assembly consisting of the usual components that does not provide packaging surrounding the syringe assembly, but is able to maintain a sterile fluid path prior to use.